1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and an exposure method for exposing a substrate and a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of Related Art
In exposure apparatuses used in photolithography processes, multi-stage (twin-stage) exposure apparatuses provided with a plurality of (two) substrate stages for holding substrates are known as described in for example Published Japanese Translation No. 2000-511704 of the PCT International Publication, Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2000-323404, Published Japanese Translation No. 2001-513267 of the PCT International Publication, Japanese Patent Application, Publication No. 2002-158168, PCT International Publication No. WO 2005/074014.
In exposure apparatuses, an increase in throughput (the number of substrates that are processed per unit of time) is demanded. A multi-stage exposure apparatus performs the operation of sequentially positioning a plurality of substrate stages at an exposure station. In order to increase the throughput of the multi-stage exposure apparatus, it is preferable to minimize the period of time, for example, from after exposure of the substrate held on a first substrate stage is completed until exposure of the substrate held on a second substrate stage is started.
A purpose of some aspects of the present invention is to provide an exposure apparatus, an exposure method, and a device manufacturing method where the throughput can be increased.